MBTA Video Shows Mother, 4-Year-Old Son Fall Onto Red Line Tracks

BOSTON (CBS) - An Attleboro woman would like to thank the good Samaritans who jumped without thinking onto the tracks at Kendall Station in Cambridge when she fell with her four-year-old son. MBTA surveillance video shows Meera Thakrar and her son Krish suddenly plummeting onto the tracks, crossing the yellow caution line without hesitation.

"After watching the video I'm thinking where was my mind. It was all excitement," she said.

The moment is like a blur to Thakrar, but she says they were rushing through the station on the southbound side to get to Boston after just getting off a Duck Tour. She was focused on a waiting train on the northbound side, not the pit between them.

The horrifying video shows them suddenly dropping. "I was worried about his head that it didn't hit the track," she said.

The video shows two other passengers spring into action to help them including Kris (who doesn't want his last name revealed). He's a regular commuter and now reluctant hero who scooped up the boy.

"It was instinct," he said. "I jumped, picked up the kid and when I turned to hand him up I saw so many hands I didn't know what was going on."

Another woman helped the mother to safety, and in the heart wrenching seconds Kris realized there could have been an oncoming train.

"It was a little nuts, I guess," he says. "I'd do it again."

Meera Thakrar says she can't believe their selfless act, and also believes divine intervention was at work. "I think God saved us, it's a miracle."

She says she's not unfamiliar with the MBTA system, but admits she'll be driving into Boston in the future.

MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo praised the bystander's quick response, but said, "It's also important that the public remember that the subway's third rail is electrified. It's always best to immediately notify an MBTA employee so that we can alert nearby train crews and shut off the power to the third rail as soon as possible."